Diatribune - Marine Life Series: Northern Pufferfish - Comments

Sculling in fish is similar

Mark H — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:45:56 -0700

Sculling in fish is similar to rowing. Think of the dorsal and ventral fins as vertical oars.

The iodine discovery took years to figure out, but once a necropsy of a dying fish reported an enlarged goiter, then iodine was the likely suspect.

This is an especially good

Jacob Freeze — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 01:49:57 -0700

This is an especially good entry in a series that I always enjoy! It left me with all sorts of questions, which is a sure sign of the very best science writing.

How did you discover that Puffers use up iodine so fast? Is this tied in with other strange features of their metabolism?

Why is their swimming motion called "sculling?" It doesn't sound much like the motion of those skinny little boats I used to see whizzing up and down the Charles River!

Am I going to have nightmares about a little herd of Zombie Pigs waiting for a passing "bokor" to revive them in Captain Cook's steerage? I hope not!

Thanks again for this well-written and well-researched series.

Marine Life Series: Northern Pufferfish

Mark H — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:37:45 -0700

There are just under two hundred species of animals known as pufferfish. Nearly all are marine and most are found in tropical seas. In New England we have only one species, the Northern Pufferfish (Sphoeroides maculatus), although at least two southern Atlantic species can be found as strays.

Puffers are fierce predators, but are known more for their protective behaviors, the most impressive of which is their ability to inflate themselves with air or water, increasing their size dramatically. Unlike many land predators, fish generally swallow their food whole. If it can't fit down its throat the potential prey is passed up (there are, or course, many, many exceptions to this rule).